The World of a Female Knight
by THE DEADLY ANGEL
Summary: An orphaned child, taken from her homeland, taken to serve rome for 15 or more years can she survive life at Hadrians wall. Read and Review plz and it is my first fanfic so please go easy. I DO NOT OWN King Arthur but I do own Faya. Rated T for language
1. Faya

An eleven year old Faya looked up from the fire she was sitting by. The flames danced and illuminated her face making her look sharper and deadly. She looked at the tent and seen the village elder coming out of it.

"The boy is dead" he told the crowd. Faya sighed and looked down

"The Romans will be coming soon, to take the boys" she thought, she frowned and walked up to the village elder

"Who will go then, we have no one to send?" the elder looked down at her and smiled

"All will be well Faya, do not worry" Faya still didn't look convinced but nodded her head and walked away. She sat down by the fire again and once more went back to thinking.

Two days later as predicted the Romans arrived, bringing some of the Sarmatian boys who would be going into the Roman cavalry. The village elder stepped forward and explained the situation

"The boy we were supposed to send, died a few days ago" he paused "I am afraid we have no others amongst us"

The Roman glared down at him

"Well do you have any knights who have done their duty then?"

"No" replied the village elder

The Roman looked around and spotted Faya

"Very well" he looked around untill his eyes landed on Faya "we will take her then" he said pointing to her

Faya looked around, then realizing they meant her stepped back. The woman behind her had similar thoughts

"No you can't" she shouted pulling Faya into her arms "we still have to eat, she is the only one who can hunt" she cried "leave the orphan child, leave her"

Faya cringed, 'the orphan child'

The Roman soldier looked down at the woman and smirked

"we will take this child, 'the orphan child' as you call her" the woman looked horrified as the roman dragged the girl out of her arms, Faya struggled a bit before she jerked out of the Romans grip and backed away until she turned on her heel and ran making a full pelt sprint for the woods

"Run Faya" shouted some of the villagers

"Don't look back"

The roman shook his head and ordered two soldiers to go after her.

They returned about 5 minutes later with her struggling furiously. Finally after seeing her attempts were all in all futil she hung her head.

A boy walked over to her and handed her, her meagor belongings and her bow and quiver, he also was toeing behind him a huge black stallion tacked up and ready to go

"Good lad, best lad" she cooed stroking his nose "going on a trip, do you want too?" the horse whinnied in reply, she laughed, she put her foot in the stirrup and mounted the horse with incredible ease, even though the horse was about four times her size.

She trotted over to the Roman commander, and inclined her head in a form of respect, but everyone around her heard her mutter "Bastard" under her breath

She rode over to the group of Sarmatian boys; she nodded her head to each one of them and joined their ranks, never saying a word to anyone but glaring daggers at the roman commander. The Romans rode off, the young Sarmatian knights galloped after them until they heard the village elder shout

"Faya" Faya turned to look behind her "RRRRRUUUUUUSSSSS"

Faya smiled at the crowd and raised her hand in farewell, she turned back around and followed the Romans.


	2. Why the girl

"Why have we got a girl with us, they are no good for anything?" asked a boy looking over his shoulder at Faya who was riding close to the back

"Leave her alone" said another boy, who was much bigger than the first, he turned around and smiled at the girl, he beckoned her over; she looked suspicious at first, but rode over all the same

"Hello" said the boy "my name is Dagonet. What's yours?"

"Faya" she replied in almost a whisper. Dagonet smiled

"Well Faya"

"Faya is that her name? She was so quiet I couldn't hear her" said a boy riding on the other side of Dag

"Be quiet Bors" Bors scowled, which made Faya chuckle a little, the others grinned as they heard her little laugh, she was introduced, to fourteen knights in particular who were Dagonet, Bors, Gawain, Galahad, Tristan, Lancelot, Kay, Bedivere, Gareth, Geraint, Gaheris, Dinidan, Percival and Lamorak.

In that short time she had made fourteen new friends, they talked to each other most of the time save Tristan and Faya who usually merely listened, until a Roman came up to them and told them they would be camping there tonight, they dismounted and unsaddled their horses.

Bors and Gareth went to make a fire while the other sat and made themselves as comfortable as possible, as soon as Faya got comfortable a roman came and dragged her up by the front of her tunic

"you are a good hunter, yes?" he asked dislike evident in his voice, Faya nodded in response, "go find us some food" he ordered shoving her off towards the woods, she hit the floor with a small Thud, she crawled over two her bow and quiver, she grabbed them and ran into the woods, she returned about ten minutes later with five good sized rabbits, she handed three to Bors who was tending the fire, he took them with a questioning look, she winked at him and went over to the Romans she handed them the two rabbits and walked back to the knights.

She sat back on her bedroll and watched the sky. After a while she lay back and lay her head on her arms, closing her eyes and listening to all the noises, she opened an eye when she saw Gawain with a piece of rabbit holding it out to her, she took it and nodded her thanks

"Do you ever talk?" he asked her

"Yes" she replied

Gareth looked over and placed his hand over his mouth in mock surprise

"She speaks" he exclaimed, she rolled her eyes and shook her head, causing many of the boys to laugh

"Maybe I should speak more often then" she said looking at Gareth

"As long as you don't talk as much as Bors" he said with a smile

"I don't think anybody could talk as much as Bors" she muttered so only Gawain could hear, he burst out laughing causing some of the boys to stare

"What she say?" asked Lamorak

Gawain just continued to laugh so she spoke up

"I said I don't think anybody could talk as much as Bors" she said making the other boys laugh just as much as Gawain. Even Bors took it easily and laughed along with the rest, Faya looked around

"Where are we heading for?" she asked looking back at the Sarmatian boys, they quietened almost immediately

"Britain" replied Kay

"Where in Hades is that?" asked Faya

"Haven't got a clue" replied Percival

"Oh, that's very helpful" said Faya sarcastically, the boys chuckled, she lay back on her bed roll and closed her eyes, she was dozing off within minutes as the others laughed and joked

"So Faya you ain't got any parents have you?" asked Lancelot. When she did not answer, the boys looked over to her to see her asleep

"Poor thing" said Lamorak "losing her parents and then this, must have been a hard life"

"Yeah, I don't know any one who has lost both their parents at the same time"

"How do you know it's the same time?" asked Tristan

"Because they were killed at the same time" they looked around to see Faya looking at them through one eye "Hades in hell, you lot are so loud I don't know how I'm gonna get to sleep on this escapade"

"How were they killed?" asked Bedivere ignoring her comment

"An attack on our tribe, both my parents were killed on that day, and that day was also the day when I made my first kill" she said indicating her tattoo under her eye

"How old were you?"

"Six"

"Six, you lost your parents at age six" asked Gaheris in disbelief, she nodded, Tristan marvelled at the girl, though he would not admit it, he hadn't got his tattoo till the age of eight. She moved her arms from underneath her head and sat up,

"My father and my mother were good people, my father taught me every thing about fighting and weapons and my mother taught me about healing and things like that. I learnt a lot from them before they died. And for that I am thankful" she said staring up at the starry night sky

"I still can't believe it" said Gaheris "how did you cope on your own?"

"I held my own, went hunting for my tribe, fought in many battles did anything I could to help" she paused "Even if my efforts went unnoticed" she added with a shrug "the orphan child stands alone, that's what people said, this is her destiny" she said in a voice barely above a whisper "But it's not, I know it's not" she said in a stronger voice, the boys stared at her, she shook he head "enough 'bout me. What about you?" she asked returning her eyes to the group

"Well, life was simple in my tribe, always hunting, festivals and _baby-sitting_" said Gawain glaring at his brother, Gareth smirked

"hey, it's not my fault you were born a minute before me" added Gareth in his defence, the pair kept on arguing until well on into the night, Faya yawned, most of the knights were settling down, she settled down making herself comfortable and closed her eyes, sleep took her yet again as she drifted off into a peaceful slumber.


	3. Lustful gazes

Faya awakened with a violent kick to the gut, her eyes shot open as she coughed and spluttered

"get up" spat a roman glaring down at her, he walked off to the other Romans packing away their gear, she sat up and rubbed her abdomen which was now throbbing painfully, she got up and packed away her bedroll and saddled her horse, Dagonet, Percival and Galahad glanced at her as she mounted her horse, she gave a small hiss, causing some of the others to look at her as well

"Are you alright?" asked Percival

"Yea, yea I'm fine, just that roman kicked my right in the place I received a wound a couple of weeks ago, still hasn't healed properly" she replied through gritted teeth. A roman from the front called to them

"Come on, move out!" the group rode off

"You were the last village we had to go to" said Geraint "we are going to Britain now" he told Faya who nodded

"Britain, never heard of it, and don't want to either, but I think the latter is coming true whether I want it or not" replied Faya looking ahead, Geraint smirked he didn't know why but he liked this girl, from the moment he saw her in the crowd he had liked her, it was true for the rest of the boys to, they all liked this spirited young girl but one certain dark haired knight-to-be had a different interest in her, he liked her a lot more than the others, a lot more. Faya yawned in the saddle; she wrapped the reigns around her wrist and closed her eyes. Gawain looked at her, and nudged her, she opened an eye and glared at him

"What?" she asked, irritated by the interruption of her nap

"You can't fall asleep in the saddle, you'll fall off" said Gwain frowning

"I won't, I assure you" she replied closing her eye again

She awoke when the Romans stopped for the night, she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and jumped from her horse with grace, she looked up to see a legionnaire standing beside her

"We'll be in Rome soon" it was more of a statement than a question. The soldier looked at her after a moment he nodded, Faya sighed and looked around, they were leaving Sarmatia soon, everything that they knew would all be lost. Soon useless knowledge, she walked over to the knights camp leaving the roman alone, she sat down by the fire, after about an hour of joking and talking the heavens opened and a down pour of rain fell, Faya looked up to the sky

"perfect" she said sarcastically, soon all the ground was muddy, she got up and headed for the nearest tree, the nearest branch was a little taller than her, she just jumped and swung up onto the branch, the boys watched awe struck by the cat like agility she possessed , she climbed up a few more branches until she found one that was acceptable to her, she sat down with her back up against the bark, she closed her eyes and attempted to go to sleep, that was short lived by any stretch

"Faya" Dagonet called to her, she looked down to him "can Dinadan, Bedivere and Galahad come up there with you?" Faya looked down and with an extremely large "humph" she climbed down, Dagonet handed each boy up to her, she caught each one and sat them on a branch "come on then" she said as she climbed up the tree, the boys followed, she found three good branches seemingly close to her, they all settled down for a good nights sleep. The next morning the rain was still going but the four in the tree were dry, Faya woke early like always, she looked around her to see the three boys still sleeping, she smiled to herself, as she was about to get up, Galahad tossed and turned on his branch, he tossed a little to far and fell off. Luckily Faya caught him in her lap, Faya unbalanced by the extra weight and fell off the branch, Galahad flew threw the air as Faya hit the ground with a resounding CRACK, Galahad fell on top of her seconds later

"Oomph" was all that Faya said as Galahad fell on her

By now all the knights-to-be were up, if not already up, they were awoken by the Crash. Gareth, Gawain, Dagonet and Bors ran over to them

"Ouch" grimaced Faya once they were in earshot, they each shot a glace at each other

"Nice fall" commented Bors

"Thanks" Faya ground out "oh gods now tha' hurt"

After the boys got out of their state of shock, they all started laughing, Faya shoved Galahad off her and sat up, she shook her head a little and got up, the two others up in the tree climbed down,

"GET UP! YOU BUNCH OF SAMARTIAN DOGS! GET UP" shouted the roman commander

"Oh go fuck a horse" muttered Faya as she started to saddle her horse, "alright my darling, come on Tirade, let's go" she whispered softly in his ear as she mounted him, she arched her back and did a few complex stretches, causing lustful stares off some of the lads, and some of the romans.


	4. So long Farewell

Ok lil' me back from France. So Read it plz and review plz

Thanks

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"OK COME ON MOUNT UP" yelled another roman. They did and they rode off. Deep down Faya realized that this might be the last time that she'd ever she her beloved home again, she sighed, that thought still lingering in her mind

A few minutes later one of the roman mercenaries rode up

"Take your last look around Boys, this might be the last you see of this land"

Most of the boys looked around, glum expressions of they're faces. Faya looked down, But after a few moments a smile came to her face. She looked around and started to sing.

Land of the mighty bear

Home of the eagle

Where still the stallions

Wander at will

Tall hills and grassy plains

I will return once more

Down in the grassy plains

You'll find my stallion

Running and Jumping

Grazing at will

Tall hills and grassy plains

I will return once more

There in the forest green

You'll find my wolf pack

Sprinting and growling

Hunting for me

Tall hills and grassy plains

I will return once more

Up in blue sky

You'll find my eagle

Flying and gliding

Watching for me

Tall hills and grassy plains

I will return once more

I Promise

She closed her mouth and looked around. Now everyone had a smie on their face

"Why didn't you tell us you could sing?" asked Gawain

"Didn't want to"

She smiled

She turned her horse around and rode up a ledge

"WE WILL RETURN SAMARTIA MAKE MY WORDS. WETHER IT BE IN BODY OR SPIRT WE WILL RETURN!!!"

She rode back and nodded

"There now we can't break a promise. We have to come back now"


	5. Boat trip

Bors looked over at her with an odd expression

"Yea now we have to come back" he repeated

They journeyed on into the Roman capital, taking in all of the buildings and people they passed. Faya was getting knots in her stomach every time someone gave her an odd look.

'Cut it out Fay' she chided herself 'course their looking at you funny, don't think they ever heard of a female knight before'

They carried on through Rome they're horses making a dull 'clop' on the cobble stoned streets.

The boys working in the streets all looked up as they passed and when their eyes landed on Faya, wolf whistles and cat calls could be heard all the way down the street.

Faya looked up just as they neared the port in which a ship lay waiting in the harbour awaiting its latest cargo. This ship Faya would remember for the rest of her life, it was the ship that would carry her to her life of servitude.

Now they were getting ready to board. All of their hoses and belongings had already been taken onboard. Faya was standing by the railings over looking the vast blue depths they would be sailing over.

While she was deep in her thought she failed to register a person coming up behind her and leaning on the railing beside her.

"Fay if you don't snap out of those thoughts soon, you're going to be left behind" She turned her head and stared into the face of no other than Dagonet

"Dag if that we're an option I think I'd take it" Dag chuckled softly "anyway that wouldn't be the case I'd just be flogged and sent on another ship, and when I get there I'd just be flogged again for being late" She looked up at Dag a smirk playing on her face "and I for one do not think that, that sound very pleasurable. Do you?"

"No I don't suppose it does" They stood there in silence gazing out and thinking on what life had in store for them.

Faya was brought out of her reverie by someone screaming

"YOU WON'T GET ME ON THAT. IT WILL SINK" One of the Romans came towards Galahad with a whip, only to have Gawain, Bors, Dagonet, Faya, Tristan and Lancelot stad between them

"You would do well as to lower that whip, or you will be faced into answering to fourty-nine very angry Samartian boys who would do no more than laugh at you when you lie sprawled out on this ground and one very, very, very angry Samartian girl who will do all it takes to protect her tribe and friends"

"And I'd be saying handling the very, very, very angry Samartian girl would be worse than handling the angry forty-nine Samartian boys" Bors angry snarl broke through.

The Roman quickly lowered his whip and stalked off running through his mind pictures of a raging mother bear protecting her cubs.

Faya smirked in victory. While the others turned and began boarding the ship she turned back to Galahad who sat on the ground shaking his head and whimpering about giant sea monsters wanting to eat him.

"Galahad" Faya soothed he looked up at her and crawled into her lap "I promise I won't let those giant sea monsters get you" she paused "do you trust me?"

Galahad nodded and got up out of Faya's lap and waited for Faya to get up. Once she did he latched onto her hand and they both walked up the gangplank. Sealing their lives off to Rome.


	6. Another secret

Ok well this story is up and running now isn't it

What do ya'll think read and REVIEW plz

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(Faya's POV)

'Poor Galahad' I mused, we had been sailing for about 2 weeks by now and Galahad hardly left the side railings. Gawain or I was usually with him.

Bors had tried his first tankard of grog last night, and by the gods it was not a pretty sight. Dagonet and myself were stuck with cleaning up the mess hall after.

'Blah, trust me that's not nice'

Anyway back to the boat trip. Gareth isn't holding out well either or Gaheris for that matter. Always got a green tint whenever I pass them, Tristan's been giving me odd expressions whenever I pass him as well. Might be the sea taking its toll on him. I don't know.

But the rest of us were holding out pretty well, For the most part. It's a good thing we will be getting there in little more than a week give or take a few days as long as the weather stays fine.

(Dagonet's POV)

Another week has gone by on this ship and if we don't get off soon, I'm pretty sure some of us are going to go mental. Right now me and Faya are sitting by Galahad, who still hasn't left the railing.

He has just finished another retching attack and I can see a glint in Faya's eye which usually means she has an idea or a serious case of indigestion. She sat down on the deck, leaning her back up against a coil of rope. She pulled Galahad down into her lap where he leant against her quite content, then she started to sing an old Samartian lullaby, her voice started off quiet but built a little in volume towards the end

Once she had finished Galahad lay cuddled up to her, fast asleep.

I smiled at her as she looked up at me, I turned away and looked around the ship, most of us lads had far of gazes of were dozing off. Even some of the Roman sailors had glassy eyed looks.

(Tristan's POV)

When I first heard that song floating down below deck, it felt like I was in …um… what is that word the Romans use… uh...heaven that's it heaven, it sounded so beautiful, I had to go up and have a look.

When I climbed the last stair I was confronted with the most beautiful thing ever.

Faya she looked so at ease with Galahad in her lap. And her singing was just an extra,

I'll never tell anyone that though, never, She will never know.

Everyone snapped out of the song induced stupor as the man from the crows nest shouted

"land ho" everyone started scurrying around collecting objects; packing bags; going below deck to saddle their horses. The ship was in uproar.

'so' Faya thought 'this is what fighting for Rome is going to be like'


	7. H E L P !

Everyone snapped out of the song induced stupor as the man from the crows nest shouted

Everyone snapped out of the song induced stupor as the man from the crows nest shouted

"Land ho" everyone started scurrying around collecting objects; packing bags; going below deck to saddle their horses. The ship was in uproar.

'So' Faya thought 'this is what fighting for Rome is going to be like' She went below deck and saddled her horse.

Everyone below deck stumbled or fell over as the ship lurched to the side. Everyone could hear Galahads scream.

"THE MONSTERS GONNA' EAT ME"

Then she heard another yell

"Fay calm him down"

Faya meandered around the various bodies and horses until she saw Gawain and Gareth trying to calm an extremely distressed Galahad. Fay quickly walked over and tapped Gawain on the shoulder. He moved to let her through. Galahad was curled up in a tight ball on the floor, shaking like a little leaf on a windy day.

Faya knelt down beside him and put her hand on his shoulder. He leapt away from her touch. Only then did she realize that he had his eyes closed.

"Galahad" she said a calming note in her voice. As soon as Galahad heard it, he was in Faya's lap in a heartbeat; cuddling up to her; seeking protection.

"Nothings going to hurt you Gal, nothing" she muttered

"Then why did the ship move?" Gal asked in a small voice

"That was just us docking in the port"

She pushed Galahad off her lap and stood up,

"Can I ride with you Fay?"

"Why?"

"Because…um…I…" Galahad looked up at her and smiled sheepishly

"Come on then, let's tell Gareth you're riding with me instead" Galahad grinned, and latched onto Faya's hand.

She walked over to Gareth

"Gareth, Gal's riding with me, OK?"

"Fine, the little whelp likes you"

Faya laughed as she turned and made her way back to Tirade

"You're gonna' have one more passenger boy, is tha' alright?" she asked the horse.

Tirade neighed and nodded his big, black head. She strapped her bow and quiver on the saddle and threw her cloak around her shoulders.

"Come here Gal" Galahad stepped closer, Faya grabbed him under the arms and hoisted him on Tirade's back, she climbed on behind him and undid the reigns from the saddle horn. She wrapped the reins around her right hand and wrapped the left arm around Galahad.

They quickly rode they're horses up onto the deck and down the gangplank. Until they were all on the green grasslands of Britain, all they could see for miles around them was green mountains and meadows

"Wow" Fay heard Galahad whisper in front of her, a smirk spread across her face. As if the horse sensed her thoughts he reared and took off, galloping around in the unspoilt meadows. Her smirk grew as she heard the laughter drifting on the wind.

KINGARTHURKINGARTHURKINGARTHUR

Hope you like

peace V


	8. The fight

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've had a load of things going on well hope you like this

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've had a load of things going on well hope you like this.

FAYATRISTANFAYATRISTAN

Faya and Galahads fun was stopped as she felt another hand pull hard against the reign's effectively stopping the horse.

"Trying to escape now, are we?"

Galahad paled as he was pulled down off the huge stallion

"No" replied Fay in a calm tone "Merely enjoying a canter around, since we've been stuck on a ship for about three weeks"

The Roman Soldier leered at her

"A likely story wench"

Faya looked up at him

"I'm not lying"

The soldier didn't even look at her as he hauled her onto his own horse and tied Tirade's reigns around his saddle horn. Fay looked behind to see Galahad sitting in front of another soldier looking extremely frightened. She tried her hardest to send him a reassuring smile before they rode back to the group.

They reached them in no time at all and the soldier dismounted and grabbed Faya by the collar of her tunic and pulled her off. With that done he marched her off in front of the Roman Officer

"This Dog tried to escape Sir"

"What?"

"She tried to run Sir"

The officer turned to Faya

"Did she? Well we'll have to do something about that"

"I didn't try to escape; I went for a ride to stretch my horse's legs"

The Roman officer back-handed her across the face, sending her sprawling to the floor

"Do not talk back to me, you insolent cur" he turned to the legionnaire "when we reach the house of Piscius she will be dealt with"

The soldier nodded and marched her back to the others, he pushed her forward and sent her flying into Bors whose arms wrapped around her and held her upright

"Until tomorrow bitch"

Faya looked at his retreating back as Bors set her firmly back on her feet

"Why did you do that Fay? You know what's going to happen now don't you?" asked Kay his stern voice cutting through the silence that had befallen them

"Yeah I've got a fair idea" she replied looking up at him

"Why'd ya do it Fay"

"Same reason I told the Captain I wanted to stretch my horse's legs"

Gawain stormed up to her Gareth on his heels

"You almost got Galahad in trouble you stuck-up little cow you ever think of that"

Faya met his blazing eyes with her own "You ever call me that again and I will hit you so hard that your ancestors would feel it and flinch at my wrath that came after it"

Gawain stepped back at the tone of her voice "and yes I did think about Galahad which is why I'm getting the punishment and not him, so back off Gawain before I hurt you"

With that said she stomped on his foot and walked away. Everyone looked after her with the exception of Gawain who was nursing his injured foot. When everyone was mounted they set off. Galahad surprisingly in front of Fay and Gareth riding beside her.

FAYATRISTANFAYATRISTANFAYATRISTAN

So what do ya think, I know it was a bit sudden but hey it's exciting so who cares, hope this has peaked **(not sure if that's the right word)** your interest for the next chapter

THE DEADLY ANGEL


	9. Oh Shit why me!

They rode on for a couple of days, stopping rarely

They rode on for a couple of days, stopping rarely. Until a huge grey, brick wall loomed into sight. It gave Fay the shivers as she rode through the giant, heavy wooden doors.

The Captain dismounted in a massive courtyard, as the Roman Lord made his entrance, he was quite plump with a big round face and was wearing a very regal looking royal purple toga.

He held his arms out wide and with a booming voice said

"Welcome Captain, you bring great honour with you to my home, gracing me with the presence of the legendary Samartian knights. Please come inside we must talk" Captain handed the reigns to an awaiting stable boy

"Dismount and make camp"

Everyone dismounted and the Samartians walked over to the edge of the courtyard and started taking care of their horses. Faya quickly took off Tirade's saddle and brushed him down; she massaged his legs and tied him to one of the hooks that had been nailed into the wall for this purpose.

After she had seen to this she walked over to the nearest fire and sat down. She felt a looming shadow behind her, she didn't even look around as Dagonet and Kay sat on both sides of her.

"Fay you know what's going to happen now don't cha" Kay asked his voice gentle

"Yeah" came the quiet reply, they waited in silence until Faya said "It's not the first time I've been punished for something I didn't do you know. Yeah whenever something went wrong in my tribe they would always blame me, since I was the Orphan child" she finally looked at them a small laugh escaped her lips "Why does everything bad happen to me?" she gave a half hearted smile.

More boys gradually started to appear at they're fire and idle chatter followed with a couple of crude jokes thanks to Bors even Galahad was there laughing with the others, he gave a squeak and hide behind Gawain, everyone's head's swivelled.

Two romans were walking towards them, Fay gave a sigh the time had come. She stood up and met them half way over. They positioned themselves on either side of her and marched back up the steps, Dagonet, Kay, Tristan, Gawain and Bors followed and stood at the back of the hall watching the proceedings with bated breath.

"You tried to escape?" the roman captain slurred

"No, I merely went to stretch my horses' legs"

"You tried to escape!"

"No"

He gave his hand a flick and the man beside her gave her, a swift punch to the gut, she doubled over in pain as the air was driven out of her lungs. The punches came in swift succession, they finally stopped leaving Faya gasping and panting on the floor.

She slowly got to her feet and stood as straight as possible, a defiant air surrounded her. The captain smiled

"Ah, not going to be broken easily are you, Bitch" he spat, she spat at his face, hitting him in the cheek. He slowly wiped it off and reached to his belt where he withdrew a whip. The whip in question had three tails each with a knot at the end, he stared at it with a very disturbing affection before he unrolled it.

He flicked it out, and many lords and ladies in the room cheered. Faya kept her eyes to the floor as she was turned around and her shirt was ripped. She gulped, the first lash fell, she bit her lip to the stinging pain, 7 left her panting, 19 left her hunched, 26 had her on her knees, 35 she was on her hands and knees, by 47 she was sprawled out on the floor her blood in a puddle all around her, her back a bloody mess of ripped and torn skin and thick blood.

The Captain finished on 50 and signalled to two guards to take her outside, they dumped her on the steps and turned back inside. She feebly tried to get up but the strength she had left quickly evaporated leaving her panting on the stone.

Dagonet quickly ran over to her, having left the hall quite quickly after the beating started. Also a green Gawain ran over staring at the blood slowly spilling from her body. Faya started to move around again but was restrained by Dagonet's large hand on her shoulder.

He picked her up and carried her over to the fires, Gawain took off his clock and places it on the ground, and Dag set her on it. Galahad pushed his way through the boys already standing around her, he stopped short when he seen the prone figure lying on his cousins clock. He suddenly heard Gareth's voice shouting to him.

His eyes never left Faya even as he made toward her. Her eyes met his and she smiled weakly up at him. Then they closed.

--

So what do you think?

Hope you like

The Deadly Angel


	10. Ouch! I don't like to Rest

Hello I'm back sorry I haven't updated in so long, I've been really busy, with my exams and everything else

Okay well here you go, enjoy

* * *

Fayas' POV

Pain was all I could sense when I woke, my head was pounding and my back was screaming at me. I opened my eyes and blinked, all I could see was too black books in front of me they were blocking everything else out.

I tested my arms out, good I could still move them, my legs were a little numb from staying in the same position all night. I brought my hands to my side and pushed myself up.

My back screamed, but I bit down my own scream. I looked down to see my shirt flowing gently around me, then at the bandages going around my front. 'Good old Dagonet. I turned my head slightly to see the so called knight sleeping, his chest rising and falling in a calm rhythm. I smiled; I turned my head again to see everyone was sleeping in one spot or another.

Galahad, Gawain and Gareth were the closest to me. Galahad was whimpering in his sleep, I moved my hand and softly stroked his small head full of soft curls, he soon stopped. I turned again and finally decided that I would not sit still anymore.

'When was the last time I actually listened to someone when they told me to sit still?'

'ummm never' I slowly brought my hands in front of myself and pushed up from the ground. After many silent curses I was up, I smiled in victory at my accomplishment.

I was standing without much problem, I know nothing can keep me still or down for more than twenty hours at the most. Not even 50 lashes, I'm not as patient as I should be I suppose but still.

I placed my hands on my hips as I surveyed the camp around me. Every thing was like always horses tethered up and boys snoring in their bedrolls. I closed my eyes and took a careful step forward then when hardly any pain shot through my back. I opened my eyes and grinned again in victory.

I moved silently through the camp muttering curses whenever my back flared with pain. I almost cried out as the most violent pain stabbed across my back and I put a hand over it. Begging that no-one had heard my grunt.

I looked around with wide-eyes like a deer caught in the head-lights when no-one moved I let out the breath I didn't even know I was holding, before starting my journey over to Tirade again.

No-ones POV

Dagonet blearily opened his eyes as he stretched his stiff muscles. He turned over to tend to Faya. But as he looked there was no-one on her bedroll. He quickly got to his feet and franticly looked around.

He spotted her petting her horses nose, He got up and calmly walked over to her

"Your not supposed to be up, you've been sleeping for three days" Fay turned eyes wide with shock

"I didn't hear you get up" she cocked an eyebrow "three days, no wonder I'm stiff"

Dag shook his head with a sigh

"you are very troublesome, has anyone ever told you that?"

"Dag you should be very pleased to hear that you are not the first" She grinned then turned to face him "They didn't hurt Gal did they"

"No"

Faya nodded in understanding.

She went to turn back when a blur crashed into her stomach pushing her and the blur to the floor, arms wrapped around her waist,

"Fay, Fay your alright, we thought you were gonna' die, didn't we Dag yep, even Kay said you was gonna' die, yep he did, but I didn't believe them, I know you're to stubborn to die, yep, and 'sides you wouldn't leave now would you, no you wouldn't"

The blur quickly came into focus and a very hyper Galahad replaced it, Faya caught her breath and pushed Gal off her as she turned over on her stomach, she groaned in both pain and annoyance

"GAL!"

"What?"

"SHUT UP!"

Gal got up, lower lip trembling, She sighed "Oh Bother" she got to her feet and opened her arms inviting him into an embrace, His lip stopped, his eyes gleamed and he ran into he embrace gladly "You're a pest you know that right"

Dag smiled from the sidelines, Gal's found himself a good mother figure.

When Galahad had been taken he'd been loud, full of life, but then the Romans had killed his mother right in front of him he'd changed he had gone quiet, angry and quick to judge, but know he was smiling, laughing, getting along with nearly everyone.

Yep everyone was going to be fine, thanks to one little girl, one orphan.

* * *

R+R


	11. Stupid, Romans, Fort

LoL What do you think of this?

They were heading out the next morning, Dag and Gal riding next to Fay with Gawain on her other side. Dag wouldn't let her go faster than a trot. So when one of the legionnaires rode back to them to tell them to hurry up, Fay laughed at him and went back to discussing something with Gawain.

The day passed really slowly, but as the sun set they caught they're first glimpse of the looming hulk of stone that was Hadrian's Wall.

That was an eye opener and make no mistake about it, there was no closed mouth amongst the Samartians. Fay looked up, nothing showing that she was amazed apart from a glint present in her eyes.

They were drawing closer and all that ran through Faya's head was that they were riding right into the place that would be their home for the next sixteen years. Some, possibly all were riding to their deaths, never to see their beloved Samartia again.

She held her head high, almost in defiance to the wall itself a grim realization settling into her features. She looked to Dag to see the same look on his face and knew she was not alone in her thoughts.

They rode through the 20 foot high doors and passed the Shire horses that were opening it. She looked to her side to see Gal stiff in Dag's saddle; he looked over to her a terrified look on his face. She gently sent him a soft smile, to reassure him.

The tried to smile back but it came out as a grimace. They were riding up a dirt road when they were met by a highly dressed roman soldier,

'Probably some high ranked sod' Fay's tired mind supplied and next to him a boy no older than she dressed in brown trousers, red shirt, a brown over coat and boots. He had emerald green eyes and a mop of brown hair.

Faya looked him over noting the childish innocence that seemed to radiate off him. She nodded to herself, approving of him almost instantly; his boy wouldn't let any of her brother die needlessly if he could stop it.

She felt some ones looking at her, calculating as to what she was doing there. She met the gaze of the boy and they stared at each other for a while, finally after a staring competition he relented, bowing his head in acknowledgment.

After the two roman soldiers had finished conversing the group who had travelled with them departed, turning back and heading back for the gates. Fay watched them go while the others turned to look at their new officer.

"Well, you are the great Samartian knights. The fearless men who will brave anything" Faya attention snapped back at that point "All I see here is a bunch of nancy boys who couldn't fight a kitten"

"You want to test your theory old man" Everyone turned to look at her, the boy looked shocked but the roman smiled

"Now that's what I want to see, sprit, determination"

Fay nodded her head in affirmative

Dag looked at her, pride coursing through every pore of his being, Bors chuckled, Gareth, Gawain and Galahad looked on in shock, while Lancelot and Tristan looked on with indifference.

"We shall take you to your barracks, then tomorrow is where your real training begins.

Read and Review

And please NO flames. Yeah creative criticism nothing more.


	12. Bad memories in the Barracks

Without any thought Faya released the breath she had been holding, she looked to Dag then to Gawain, shrugged and dismounted. Tirade was quickly taken away by a stable hand and she was herded with the rest of the boys to a row of barracks set up near the wall.

She cocked her head to the side questioningly but again shrugged it off. She moved off through the others until she came to stand by Bedivere and Gareth, Bedivere giving her raised eyebrows while Gareth took no notice. They where brought into a straight line in front of the barracks.

"Straighten up lads" barked a voice, the owner of said voice following not a second behind, he was a tall, armour clad Roman soldier, he inspected the lines before nodding his approval.

"Okay, I want names I'll go down the line and I want you to shout out your names, Is that understood?" When no-one answered, he shouted "Is that understood?"

"Yes Sir"

"Good"

He pointed at them in turn, nodding at the name when it was given, then moving onto the next, seemingly storing it all in his mind until later. He came to Faya and raised his eyebrows

"A girl, what is a girl doing in my regiment?"

"She's come here to fight Sir, just like the rest of us" Fay smiled as she recognized that voice

'Dag' The soldier looked down to the end of the line and stared at Dag

"Dagonet wasn't it?"

"Yes sir"

The soldier humph-ed and moved on down the line.

When it was over they were again herded into their barracks, Fay luckily going in with everyone she knew, she grimaced when she saw the bunks. She looked around and sighed all the bottom ones were taken. She quickly shoved her stuff onto the bunk up above Bors seeing as Dagonets was already taken by Kay. She heaved herself up and looked around. On the bottom bunk to her left sat Gawain with Galahad on top, to her right on the top bunk was Tristan and below him was Gareth, then opposite her was Dagonet with Kay on top.

She lay down her head resting on the pillow, and shut her eyes, they were here, they were actually here. She sighed

'Right now, I want to wake up and say this was all a really bad dream. Maybe go outside to find mother cooking meat over the fire and father out gathering firewood with some of the other men from the village'

_Flashback_

_A 6 year old Faya was picking flowers out in the field when the first battle cry was heard. She looked up looking very much like a deer caught in the headlights. A man was running towards her a pick axe in hand. She screamed, and shortly after the man fell dead and arrow protruding form his chest, her father knelt beside her and peeled her hands from her eyes_

"_Run FayFay, run get back to the village and hide" _

_She just stood there, before nodding and running hearing a bow string twang from behind her, she closed her eyes and sprinted faster if possible before tripping in a rabbit hole, she turned as she saw three men surrounding her father. She screamed, this time however it was joined by a scream of anger as her mother raced out to her father's aid just as he was cut down. Soon her mother joined him, but only one man was left, Fay ran back to her parents sides. Both were still alive but only barely. Her mother's eyes widened as the surviving man bore down on her. Not really thinking she grabbed her father's dagger and plunged it upwards, the man gasped and fell, Fay ripped the dagger out of his chest and looked at it in horror, it was stained red, glistening in the dying sunlight. By the time she looked down to her parents both were dead their hands entwined together and both had a smile on their faces. Little Fay sat and wept, crawling in between her mother and fathers corpses and clinging tightly to them._

_End of Flashback _

She sighed again and she knew deep in her heart that would never happen. This was all very real, her parent were dead, because of her. She turned on her side and silently cried. She wouldn't admit it to anyone but right then she felt that she was the same 6 year old again. Alone, desperate and Afraid.

* * *

I almost started crying as I wrote this. But that was what I was aiming for, hope you like and I hope it shows some of you that she is human and does have feelings. A little short maybe bit it's the Winter season. Merry Christmas, I might get another chapter posted by then but if I ddon't then I'm sorry but still

MERRY CHRISTMAS


	13. Gal, go to bed

She slowly drifted off to sleep among the chatter of the barracks, leaving her dreams to plague her thoughts.

She was rudely awaked in the middle of the night, by a hand clasping her arm; she rolled over and found the trespasser out to be Galahad looking small and afraid.

"I couldn't sleep, Fay I don't like it here"

Fay gave yawn, and rolled over fully, before sitting up and resting her back against the wall before pulling Gal into her lap where he cuddled up to her, she gently stroked his hair,

"Fay, why were you crying when you felled asleep?"

She looked shocked at that, before looking away and sighing

"I was just thinking about my parents Gal, the last time I saw them"

"It must have been sad if it made you cry" she nodded and held him tighter

"Yeah it was"

Gal looked down again curling up as a harsh gust of wind, blew in through the window, everything was silent, except for the deep breathing of the other occupants of the barrack.

"Fay?"

"What Gal?"

"Will you sing to me?" she gazed down at him before nodding and started to sing softly

Like a bird without wings  
That longs to be flying,  
Like a motherless child  
Left lonely and crying.  
Like a song without words,  
Like a world without music,  
I wouldn't know what to do  
I'd be lost without you  
Watchin' over me.

I get so lonely, when you're away  
I count every moment, I wait every day,  
Until you're home again  
And hug me so tight  
That's when I know  
Everything is alright.

Like a bird without wings  
That longs to be flying,  
Like a motherless child  
Left lonely and crying.  
Like a song without words  
Like a world without music,  
I wouldn't know what to do  
I'd be lost without you  
Watchin' over me.

You're my guardian angel  
My light and my guide  
Your hand on my shoulder  
And you by my side.  
You make everything beautiful,  
You make me complete.  
Everything in my world  
I lay at your feet.

Like a church with no steeple,  
Where a bell never rings.  
In a town without people,  
Where no voice in the choir ever sings.  
If a boat on the ocean  
Would be lost with no sail,  
Then without your devotion  
Surely all that I dreamed of would fail.

Like a song without words  
Like a world without music,  
I wouldn't know what to do  
I'd be lost without you  
Watchin' over me

I wouldn't know what to do  
I'd be lost without you  
Watchin' over me

Once she was finished she noticed that Galahad had fallen asleep so she gently placed him on her mattress and pulled a blanket over him and tucking him in. He mumbled a bit before turning over and snuggling down into the pillow a bit more

Fay smiled softly, before getting up and climbing off her bunk, she looked to Gawain to see him snoring away happily, unaware of anything, she shook her head before climbing up on top of his bunk and steeling down and drifting back to sleep.

All too soon they were being awoken by Romans yelling at them,

'Oh this brings happy memories' she thought sarcastically as she sat up and stretched raising her arms up above her head. Before rolling her shoulders and getting down

"What are you doing up there? Gal's supposed to be up there" Gawain said looking around for his little cousin

"Galahad commandeered my bunk for the night, don't worry yourself so much Gawain" she said

"Yeah Gawain don't get your under breeches in a twist"

Gawain snarled at Lancelot as looked prepared to pounce

"Oi Lancelot, you keep your comments to yourself, and Gawain don't jump him just yet, you'll have enough of a laugh watching him use a sword today"

Gawain gave one last growl before stalking out with the rest, leaving Fay on her own, with the king of sarcasm himself

"Lance leave him alone for today, first day of training will make everyone cranky and I doubt very much they'll appreciate you hounding on them tonight, so unless you want to be pummelled I really suggest you leave them alone"

She left Lancelot gaping after her as she joined everyone outside for breakfast. They were all gathered around a couple of fires cooking meat. She walked up to one and sat down beside Tristan.

"Mmmm, smells yummy" Gareth raised his eyebrows

"Thank Tristan for that"

She turned sharply, surprise literally floating off her, before she nodded in acceptance as the meat was shared out amongst them.


	14. Mom! What the

After that small but still delicious cooked venison, they were met by Arthur Castus again, this time he came accompanied by a man with greying hair, he was tall, and built of muscle that rippled over his arms and legs. He lead them through the streets of the town, they all did their best to keep their faces neutral to the scornful and disrespectful words thrown at them, Fay looked to the left to see Dag and Bors conversing quietly together, she tried to listen in but the hustle and bustle was distracting, finally bored with that she looked to her right to see Gareth and Gawain on either side of Galahad sending evil glares to anyone who even looked at them funnily, to which she laughed quietly to herself.

They finally left the real market place and carried on through the small side streets, until they eventually made it to what looked like the practise yards, there was a huge paddock like thing in the centre covered with gravel and had fencing around the outside. It was big enough to hold at least five fights at one time with sufficient moving room. Up a small incline on the far side were a dozen or so archery targets, all spaced out at different lengths ranging from 20 yards to 180. And to finish on the opposite side to the arena was a medium sized building; it was obviously an armoury even from the outside which was littered with broken practise swords.

The grey haired bloke spoke his voice harsh and loud in the crisp morning air, they were so far away from the town that they couldn't even hear the ruckus so the soldier's voice sounded louder than it really was.

"I am Captain Evodius Herius, but you will address me as Captain or Sir, do you understand?"

"YES SIR"

"Good, Today I will be starting your training, you will learn a variety of different weapons and then a number of other officials and I will choose which will be your main choice of weapon"

Dagonet looked around, always worrying

"Today we will start with the classic broad sword, everyone of you should have had some basic training with that one" he looked around "I think to begin I'll have you fighting on another so I can see your strengths and weaknesses, So I'll split you into pairs and when I say you will step into the arena and spar"

So it ended with the pairs looking something like Dagonet vs Bors, Gawain vs Gaheris, Gareth vs Geraint, Dinidan vs Bedivere, Galahad vs Lamorak, Kay vs Percival, Arthur vs Lancelot and Tristan vs Faya.

They all went up in that order, Dagonet getting in trouble for his stances and Bors for not holding his sword in a steady grip, which resulted in Dagonet almost getting speared. Everyone else even Galahad only had a slight hand movement problem, but when it came to Tristan and Fay, Fay lost when she was slammed on her back with Tristan holding his sword to her throat, she had got a lecture about how crap her footwork was and how she'd have to work day and night mastering the art of it.

Evodius left them giving them plain instructions to practise amongst themselves, Dagonet and Tristan trying to help Fay master the basic turns and correct stances while everywhere else you heard the clash of steel on steel, eventually after a lot of effort Fay finally got the basics drilled somewhat in her mind. She was still a little off, trying to erase the old ways from her mind, which wasn't easy.

By noon everyone was hot, sweaty but satisfied. They had had a fun day of battering each other. But the high light of the day was when Lancelot had attempted to pushed Bors out the way, when the big man and grabbed him in a headlock and flipped him over and sat on him. That had brought a smile even out of Tristan and Bedivere and Galahad were on the floor rolling around and laughing their heads off, while Lancelot screamed and yelled curses and threats, which eventually turned into pleas for help and banging his fists on the floor.

They were all tired when they made their way back to barracks, but still in a jolly mood, their first training session was over. Fay looked around there seemed to be many bruises and scabs but nothing really serious, the worst injury there was, seemed to be a huge bruise that marred Lancelot's back.

Everyone was in high spirits that evening when lunch was served, even Arthur who always looked so serious. Fay nodded at everyone she passed and quickly came to the conclusion

'If everyday is like this, I don't think we'll have too much of a problem'

She sat between Dagonet and Bors and listened to the various conversations around the place. It seemed that Galahad was telling Arthur about the journey to Britain while Bedivere and Dinidan interrupted him every few seconds. She wasn't paying much attention until she heard her name mentioned.

"Fay helped us climb a huge tree which kept us dry from the rain, the tree was massive 4 times the size of Dag"

She smiled and felt Bors nudge her in the ribs

"You're the hero of the rainy day Fay"

She shook her head with a fond smile

"I'm off to bed, don't stay up to late and Dag, Bors make sure you too are the last to leave" Both men nodded

"G'Night mom"

She stopped, turned a grimace coming across her features before steeling herself

"Good Night Gal, Dan, Bed"


	15. Wall meetings

She walked back to the barracks, purposely taking her time about it. She breathed in the fresh night air and slowly released it. She was surprisingly looking forward to the next day of training. But before then she would like to have a look around. She was walking around aimlessly before she decided to go up to the wall, she climbed up the stairs and looked out over the parapets.

It was breath taking, everything was illuminated by the light of the moon and the trees created deep shadows that stretched over the land which made seeing into the forest impossible.

Fay stayed up there for ages unsure of the passage of time, until she heard a clank and a gruff curse behind her. There was a Roman guard struggling with a clasp that had gotten stuck

"Oh Bollocks, Why won't it come off?" he began tugging at it again, before giving up

Fay crept forward silently

"Umm.. Do you want some help?"

The Guard turned showing the face of a boy no older that 16, he had a shaggy mass of brown hair which stuck up in every direction followed by the most intense blue eyes you'd have ever seen.

He grinned slightly before nodding and Faya moved behind him, gently sliding the buckle out from underneath the armour plating where it had gotten caught and carefully un did the clasp, before pulling her hands away and letting the boy pull the shoulder guard away. He turned to face her and bowed his head slightly

"Thank You, if you hadn't had been there I'd have been battling with that forever and probably would have been very embarrassed if I had to ask one of the others"

Fay smiled and chuckled lightly

"It was no trouble really, I didn't want you to get into trouble for leaving your post, you're lucky I was here"

He nodded before frowning

"You're one of the Samartian knight are you not? I saw you ridding in yesterday"

Fay nodded "Yes it was me and my brothers you saw"

He looked surprised "Your family must have been pretty big"

Fay looked confused before she burst out laughing, the soldier didn't look to amused at being laughed at "Well it's true"

Fay almost keeled over from lack of oxygen

"Oh goddess, they are not my real brothers, my brothers in arms, oh shit if my mother had given birth that many times, I'd have felt very sorry for her" she continued to chuckle as his face went beet red which she could even see in the darkness.

"Well I'd better be going or I'll have Dag on my hide"

He gently grabbed her hand

"Will I see you again?"

She smiled and nodded, before turning to go down the steps again

"WAIT what's your name?"

"Faya, yours?"

"Julian"

She nodded before flying down the stairs and into the darkness

She entered the barracks to find everyone there already even Bors and Dagonet, they were all still up and talking. She climbed up and settled on top peering out of the window every now and then looking up to the wall.

She smiled gently before she was interrupted by an argument breaking out between Lancelot and Gawain, fighting over some trivial matter or the other. She sighed before settling down on her mattress and pulling the blanket over her.


	16. Training sucks

Sorry I haven't updated in a while things have been really hectic around here

Thanks for the patience my loyal reviewers and thanks for no hate mail yet

That would really suck

And now on with the next stage in Faya's life

* * *

She awoke to light rain falling on the roof top, she turned to the window to see the rain drops falling looking like crystals as they caught on the grass and shined. She smiled slightly and curled up under her blanket as she watched and listened to the pitter patter above, all to soon grumbling was heard around her as the others got up and were getting ready to leave.

She sighed as thunder cracked up above causing quite a few people to jump in alarm. Fay watched in fascination as the lightening flashed through the sky like a bolt, one minute there the next gone.

"Do you think they'll make us train in the rain?" she heard Gareth moan

"I would reckon so, from what I heard last night in the tavern this is normal weather"

"WHAT? Normal, you cannot be serious"

Faya having enough, swung down from her perch

"It looks like we are going to have to get used to this, so deal with it in the beginning and get dressed, so we can get some breakfast"

Gareth frowned but moved to get dressed none the less. No one said anything, no one stood up to her and she was getting tired of not getting shouted at. Even when she did something wrong no one even batted an eyelash but when Galahad or Percival did they got shouted at or lectured. She was beginning to wonder if it was because she was a girl. Why no one dared say anything to her.

She was still thinking as she made her way to the tavern with the others. Not really taking in her surroundings. Everything that was said flowed over her like a rip tide.

Even as she entered the tavern and the door almost closed on her, she was still lost in her own thoughts.

She was driven out of them however when a hand met her shoulder, she spun around ready to cause some serious harm in the noisy crowd filled room. Until she spotted the mass of messy brown hair

Julian smiled down at her

"I said we'd meet again didn't I?"

He laughed

"Aye you did"

Faya grinned and turned around, she raised a slender eyebrow at the death glare she received but on closer inspection they were not aimed at her but rather behind her where Julian stood.

She turned around to see Julian trying to back away unnoticed, but she grasped his hand and pulled him with her

"They have to learn not to mess with my life"

She pulled a seat out beside Dag and sat motioning Julian to sit beside her. He did after a furious battle within himself but he still looked at Faya never taking his eyes off her.

She chuckled again and looked around, none of the death glares had ceased and now it was starting to piss her off

"Oi stop harassing him, he's my friend"

Nobody seemed to be listening to her today, and to be honest about it she didn't like it

"Come on Julian let's go, if these guys are gonna' be rude to you then we'll be leaving to eat with civilised company"

She again grasped his hand and got up from the table, pulling him along with her and sat down at another table nearer the back

"There all better, now they can sod off"

Julian grinned as a serving wench came around and dropped two bowls full of broth on the table along with two spoons

"Well what have you got planned to do today Fay?"

"Training to protect your sorry arses, you?"

"On wall guard again, someone in the higher ups must hate me, I've been on wall duty 3 days and nights in a row. It's really not fair"

Faya smiled sadly

"Life's seldom fair mate, take a look here, if life was me or my friends wouldn't be here" Julian nodded

"Well I for one am glad life's not fair at the moment" Faya shook her head a cocky grin on her face.

"yea at the moment I am too" Julian grinned back and both picked up their spoons and dunked them in the broth.

Faya growled as she once again found herself on her back, her quarter staff somewhere in the other direction, with Herius stalking towards her, his own weapon raised, before he could bring it down on her she flipped up and head butted him, taking his moment lapse of concentration as her advantage she shoved him away and ran to her quarter staff only to turn around, to find his quarter staff tip about a millimetre away from her neck

"What can you do in this situation?"

"Nothing, if I move backwards you can just follow me and if I try anything else you can just kill me" she stopped "Unless I can distract you in one second which because you're an experienced soldier I doubt I will be able to do but if it was a young one I might be able to"

Captain Herius nodded at her accepting her answer, she was about to retrieve her weapon from the ground, when he rapped her on the head with his.

"Have you learnt anything from this?" She yelped and clutched he head, rubbing the sore spot

"Don't turn my back on my opponent and don't let my concentration slip" he nodded again a ghost of a smile curling the corners of his mouth slightly.

"Go on and get some dinner, and then you can spare with Gawain for the rest of the day" she nodded and levered herself over the wooden fence separating the sparring paddocks from each other.

She was walking to the tavern looking forward to her dinner when she heard what sounded like crying; she frowned and followed the noise. She found Dinidan and Galahad surrounded by 5 burly men. Dinidan had tears running down his face and him and Galahad were cowering against the wall. The guy whom she assumed was the leader was smaller than the others, with a bald head and a scar running along it and right down his face until it stopped at his chin. All of them were unwashed if the smell was anything to go by that or the soap they were using consisted of horse manure. She stalked forward pushing past the ring and standing in front of the two young ones

"What the hell do you think you're doing mate?"

One of the guys on her left brought his hand around attempting to sweep her away

"Get out of here missy, this has nothing to do with you" She ducked avoiding his hand as it passed harmlessly over her head

"Oh mate if you're antagonising my brothers then I think it is my problem"

"Christopher when are you going to learn to pick on someone your own size"

8 heads whipped around to the alley Fay had just exited to see a red head standing there with a hand on her hip, glaring

"Shit scatter guys" Faya watched as the 5 disappeared

"You alright darlings" she wiped her red curls out of her face and walked up to them

"Yes thanks for that" the girl shook her head

"No need, those 5 are well known bullies around here, by the way I'm Vanora" she stared at Fay intensely "I've seen you at the tavern" Fay nodded slowly "Oh silly me, my father owns it, I'm not stalking you, I help as a serving girl sometimes" Fay relaxed slightly

"Faya" she added as an after thought "My names Faya and this is Dinidan and Galahad and I'm sure they want to thank you for helping us"

Galahad nodded, eyes still wide from the fright while Dinidan just clung to Fay's trouser leg. Fay quickly scooped him up and sat him on her hip

"Big boys don't cry, you'll have to stop those tears" she felt Dinidan nod against her shoulder as he sniffled quietly

"Aww poor dear, Christopher always takes pleasure making himself seem superior, he's a right menace" Faya nodded as they exited the alley

"I think I've missed my lunch break, Oh damn! we have to go" Vanora nodded

"Come by the tavern tonight and we can continue our chat" Fay smiled and nodded glad for the offer as a time to get away from the boys

"Come on Gal we've got to go to or Herius will have our heads and I like mine where it is" She let Dan to the floor gently and walked on as Gal and Dan ran to catch her up she called a good bye to Van and ran up the incline that led to the training grounds

"Oh damn I'm hungry" she moaned as she made her way down the dip and leapt over the fence towards Herius, who pointed her over to Gawain who was standing in the paddock closest to the archery field "Why couldn't I have just done archery?" she groaned as she saw Dinadan and Galahad there with Tristan. She glanced at Gawain who was standing there chuckling at her, she frowned and bent over to pick up the wooden practise sword on the floor by Gawain's left foot. She stopped before bringing her hand all the way outand simply brought it forward. She jumped back clutching the sword safely to her chest as she watched in amusment as Gawain toppled to the floor with a crunch as the gravel underneath him cracked under him.

He stared up at the sky for a few minutes, unsure of what had occured before getting up, brushing gravel from his trousers, glaring at her. She just shrugged and bit her lip to stop herself from laughing

"Woops"

"Now children" they both looked over to find Herius watching them, Faya dropped into a crouch bringing her sword in front of her and waiting for Gawain to mimic her, then the dual began.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it

Sorry it's shorter than what it should be

But still at least it's something

Don't hate me and review


	17. Authors note

Founded by chisato12010

!Important!

I heard about Redbotton (a program that may get my stories and maybe your stories deleted from FanFiction .net)…

Please read this article I copied off from Civil Initiative .com... If I get in trouble for posting this then so be it, but I feel all readers should know the facts… It's their RIGHT…

Friday, August 27, 2010

The RedBotton Issue and what it means for FFNet

As some may have noticed there has recently been a mass reporting of stories on FFNet that are being made by a person known as RedBootton. The administration of the site has been made aware of a disturbing revelation about this account.

RedBootton is actually a program that was designed by Lord Kelvin and is used by various members of Literate Union. Redbootton appears to be capable of accessing Ffnet and searching stories or summaries for either key words or patterns of grammar and then creating a list of the stories that are "in violation of ToS" it then mass reports these stories until the stories are either removed by the author or mods. The members of LU don't even scan over the list before executing the report portion of the program.

The list itself is generated in a matter of minutes.

The idea is to go through each fandom systematically and clean house until Lord Kelvin can finish the touches on the site wide program. After each fandom is cleaned it will then be used to scan all new stories being posted.

This is a serious violation of the ToS on FFNet  
_4. General Use of the Website  
hereby grants you permission to access and use the Website as set forth in these Terms of Service, provided that:  
A. You agree not to distribute in any medium any part of the Website, including but not limited to User Submissions (defined below), without 's prior written authorization.  
B. You agree not to alter or modify any part of the Website.  
C. You agree not to access User Submissions (defined below) or Content through any technology or means other than the Website itself.  
E. You agree not to use or launch any automated system, including without limitation, "robots," "spiders," or "offline readers," that accesses the Website in a manner that sends more request messages to the servers in a given period of time than a human can reasonably produce in the same period by using a conventional on-line web browser. Notwithstanding the foregoing, grants the operators of public search engines permission to use spiders to copy materials from the site for the sole purpose of and solely to the extent necessary for creating publicly available searchable indices of the materials, but not caches or archives of such materials. reserves the right to revoke these exceptions either generally or in specific cases. You agree not to collect or harvest any personally identifiable information, including account names, from the Website, nor to use the communication systems provided by the Website (e.g. comments, email) for any commercial solicitation purposes. You agree not to solicit, for commercial purposes, any users of the Website with respect to their User Submissions. _

What is disturbing about this issue is that many false positives are given, and stories that are not in violation are being reported. The administration of FFNET have been made aware of this issue, but even after repeated e-mails they seem to be either indifferent or actually support the use of this program by Literate Union.

What follows is what is known about RedBootton and how this one simple program could easily impact the site and why every one should be angry that the administration as remained silent about this issue.

(RB) is a program that accesses and systematically searches for and reports stories that it flags as in violation of ToS.  
program is not perfect and has had false hits, resulting in stories with the inclusion of a header formatted in the following manner as being reported for script format even when the rest of the story is in actual story paragraph form.  
Rating:  
Pairing:  
Summery:  
Authors Note:  
no long reads or even checks over the stories that are flagged by RB before hitting the report function.  
advanced form of the program that is available to trusted members that includes a search function for typo's and grammar. This could result in a 10,000+ word stories that may have a few typo's or stories that have characters that may have dialog that is grammatically incorrect as being reported.  
is a beta version that will have the ability to search for MA stories. This search function is based upon the flagging of certain words within the text. A story that may have a rooster referred to as a cock or a cat being called a pussy could easily be flagged and reported as MA.  
6.A Beta version of the advanced program will have the capability to "clean house" site wide, including scanning any stories as they are being posted.

For those who think that is fiction I give you links to the Literate Union Forum.

.net/topic/61196/30589812/1/

In this thread is where Lord Kelvin talks about and includes links to where this program can be downloaded for general use. At one point LK even states _"Specific words/phrases are rated MA automatically because they are only present in stories with paraphilia."_

.net/topic/61196/30532995/38/#30685587

In this thread there is more talk about both RB and how to use it.

Over the past week multiple emails were sent to the admin and mods of FFNet with no answer. Although it is possible that with a site as large as FFNet that they have yet to find time to address this issue, I find myself leaning more to the belief that they just don't care. Since the site seems unwilling or unable to handle this issue there is only one solution.

That is to leave FFNet. Writers should remove their stories and find alternative sites for posting them. Readers to stop visiting. Perhaps then and only then will this issue be seen as important by the owner.

Personally I would rather fight then flee

**Please Post this same message to your stories to to let out the word. I suggest **


	18. Early days

Faya always found that she was now always paired with Gawain when it came to duelling with the broad sword, their limits were about the same and both had around the same endurance level and skill.

Gawain jumped forward swinging his sword towards her in a downward arch, she lifter her own weapon in a block and using the momentum she gained from springing up into an upright position pushed him away from her. She quickly followed him and went for the sides of his legs a few times before hooking her foot behind his and pulling backwards. Gawain fell back so he was once more looking at the sky but brought his sword up just in time to block the thrust that was coming his way. Faya retreated slightly giving Gawain the chance he needed to get up again before she was at him again, parrying many of his blows and landing a few of her own. Nearing the end of their fight, Gawain thrust forward harshly, Faya quickly spun their swords together and using his own strength to her advantage she spun around Gawain and quickly pulled up her sword to his throat, quickly and effectively ending their duel.

Faya was surprised when she heard someone clapping from the sidelines

"You are doing well child" Herius congratulated her "And to think you were once a scrawny little nothing who had very bad foot work" Faya smiled slightly at the compliment, before she was prodded in the back

"However you always turn your back on your target" Herius smiled as she turned slowly to find Gawain holding his sword up to her, she quickly brought her own up in a flash, knocking Gawains sword out for his grip. Fayas eyes widened and she jumped back and away from Gawain who was staring at his sword which was lying on the floor some 10 feet away. Faya stared at her practise sword in surprise

"Gawain, I…" she stuttered for a moment "Bloody hell, I'm sorry" she grimaced and offered a half smile in apology

"Where did that come from?" the startled boy finally said, still in shock

"I have no idea" came the honest reply, before the girl looked at her once scrawny arms "Seems I've grown" she muttered, staring at the muscle she had gained.

Gawain finally looked up at her and seemed to see her in a new light

"You have changed" he agreed with her "How long have we been here, it can't have been that long ago?" Faya shrugged her shoulders before staring up at the sky as she felt a big, fat raindrop land on the tip of her nose. She shook her head

"We've been here about a 6 months now, but think on it, most of that time we've been training so it would be sort of difficult to not gain some muscle in that time" she answered slowly, trying to get the words out in some sensible order. She quickly leapt over the fence and started to head to the tavern "Come on Gawain, before we get soaked" she called back to the still stationary boy. That got him moving and he was by her side soon after it

"6 months, really?" he exclaimed "Surely it can't have been that long" she nodded her head slowly

"No that's right, about 6 months anyway"

"That means we've been away from Samartia about 7 then. Goddess I miss it" Gawain looked to the ground. As if sensing his mood the skies open and a downpour started. But neither made any move to walk faster

"Faya, promise you won't tell anyone I said this" she gave a slight incline of her head in affirmative "I'm already starting to forget, their faces I mean, my family; they are just blurs in my memory now. Gareth has a better idea of what they look like than me now" he looked up as his tears mixed with the rain water that was flowing over the two knight to be. Faya brought a hand up to his shoulder and squeezed before pulling him into a hug

"You'll see them again, don't you worry about it Gawain, you'll see your family and then you won't need to remember what they look like" she gave him another squeeze and let him go and continued walking down the soggy path to the tavern. She heard a sniff and then Gawain was by her side again, eyes still a little puffy and red but the tears were gone.

She smiled sadly when they reached the tavern and he wandered off to sit next to his brother, who had grown up a lot since they had been there, no longer was he the moaning and groaning boy they had started out with, but he had matured and just got on with any task he was set now.

Looking around she took note of how they had all changed, everyone had become more muscled. But it was the small changes that caught her attention, like the small scar running across the corner of Gaheris' mouth, which he had acquired by falling over during one of his duels with Gareth and caught his face on the edge of a jagged rock in the practise yard. That day had ended with all the knights scanning the practise yard and picking up all jagged bits of gravel and putting them in a pile by the armoury by order of Herius.

Galahad had changed, he was more open now and would share his opinions with the rest of the knights without any problem, however when it came to protecting himself he still had a little trouble as he was still quite small.

Faya frowned softly before running an analysis over herself, she had become more open with people, not stopping to think of the consequences her words or actions would hold, it had gotten her into trouble with the Romans more times than she could care to remember. She was sure she had picked that trait up from Vanora, the two of them had become very good friends over the last few months, Van had turned into her confidant, someone she could go to for anything, be it for advice or just someone to talk to and she acted as the same for Van.

She finally pulled up a chair next to Bors, that was a guy who would never change, still the loud and funny boy they had started off with and didn't look like he would be changing soon. She smiled at that, glad that at least one person would never change, and on her other side sat Dagonet, he had grown more silent through their time here, to be fair he hadn't really been talkative when they'd first met, but now it was a rare occasion to get him to speak at all. He was like this to most but a select few could hold a conversation with him saying more than 5 words and Faya was glad she was one of those people.

Faya turned to the side in her chair, leaning her back against Dags side and putting her feet over Bors lap so they just hung over his opposite thigh, both knights took hardly any notice of it now as it was a nightly occurrence. She looked across the table and found Julian sat between Gareth and Lamorak, the latter two holding a very complex discussion on something to do with battle tactics.

Now there was another thing that had changed over the last few months, Julian was now the only likeable Roman that the knights had come to like and talk to with respect other than Arthur. That day had been a surprise to say the least. They were all in the tavern after a day of training when a group of Roman soldiers new to the fort had come in, but after spotting the Knights had made some insulting comment which had gotten us all riled up. When Julian had stood up and punched the Roman in the face,

"You would do well to treat these people with respect, they are training to help protect your sorry ass so be grateful because I know for a fact you can't protect yourself let alone a county, so keep your opinions to yourself you incestuous bastard" the roman looked confuse for about a second before a look of absolute rage turned his face a bright red and he was off the floor in a flash and advancing on Julian with death in his gaze. But before he could pummel Julian who had stood his ground courageously and unwilling to back down even at that point, Faya, followed by all the knights in the tavern at the present time was behind Julian in a flash, fists raised and ready for a brawl that looked to be inevitable. But the Romans friends looked at the odds, grabbed their friend by the shoulder and marched him out of the tavern before he could be set on by the angry and protective Samartians. Now that was something unheard of, Samartians protecting a Roman guard, and that was were they were today. And Faya was not about to admit it to anyone, but she wished it would stay this way forever, however she knew that could never be, so getting up from her seat, she wandered over the bar and having a word with Vanora, was given a piece of charcoal and paper and returning to her spot and sitting in the same position as before. She started to draw, what was soon to become one of her favourite memories ever, all of her close friends, sitting there and talking, having fun, not really worrying about the danger they were training to fight, but just living. She smiled as she worked on her masterpiece,

'Yes' she thought, 'I am going to miss this'.


	19. Time Flies: 4 Years Later

Sorry about the wait guys, I really am but with school and University applications I had to put all my life on hold. Literally. But here we are and now I'm back and ready to put Faya through all sorts of hell. However, its not going to be like a normal story like some of you might think so far as I'm going to skip bits because really if I write a thing for all 15 years we're gonna be there for a while, so give it up for chapter 18.

4 years later.

Faya grinned as she watched Galahad and Bedivere run through the practice yards swords raised as Galahad ran after Bedivere trying to tackle him as he sprinted away. Faya shook her head as she readied her own weapon, she lifted her bow and nocked an arrow, drawing the string back, she breathed out and let the arrow fly. Bulls-eye. Maybe not centre bulls-eye but a bulls eye she could be proud of, thanks to Tristan her aim was improving again.

A few months prior Faya was lounging in the practise yards watching some of the boys practise when Dagonet who was fighting Bors thought it would be funny to push Bors backwards, resulting in him tripping over a rock and landing on her arm. Dagonet had come to the conclusion that it was only a bad sprain and Bors hadn't broken her arm luckily but she still couldn't use it for 6 weeks and it would still twinge from time to time.

"Faya!" she glanced back towards the road to the fort and smiled when she saw Gawain and Lancelot run towards her "You ready for tomorrow?" Gawain asked as the two boys skidded to a stop. At 15 Faya had turned from the small child she was, to a hardened warrior, even though she had never been outside the wall she was no stranger to bloodshed on this rock.

The summer previously woads, the natives of this land, had broken in behind the wall and left carnage in their path, she had her first taste of battle with these foes, skilled with their weapons and as fierce as the ocean in a storm. They wanted their country back and would do everything possible to make sure they did. Arthur had lost his mother that day, she had never seen her future commander look so down before, he had grieved for a good few weeks after that.

"Just wanted to get an hour or two of practice before we depart" she said "Are you packed, remember we are leaving first thing in the morning so don't leave it till the last minute" She warned, Lancelot rolled his eyes

"Yes Sister we have, Dagonet and Kay has made sure of that and trust me they are much more thorough than you" Faya raised an eyebrow

"Are you implying I'm not thorough?" She could hardly keep the grin off her face as Lancelot stared at her with a deer in the headlights look on his face while Gawain just shook his head sharply. "Gawain you're going to give yourself a concussion doing that" she let a grin slip onto her features before chuckling slightly. She walked to her target and collected her arrows replacing them in her quiver "Come on lets get back, I need to discuss something with Kay anyway"

The three of them departed the training grounds and as the two boys headed towards the tavern, she headed for the infirmary where she was sure Kay would be with Dagonet, helping the friendly giant collect his equipment. She pushed the heavy wooden doors and true to her gut, both men were there. She walked in and both turned to her

"Faya" Kay greeted "You all set for tomorrow" she smiled half heartedly but nodded

"I don't think Tirade it very much, he's not used to the forests here, they are thicker than the ones back home" She sighed "And I'd feel safer if Tristan were coming with us on this mission, we've never been that north along the wall without him and the Woads around here are getting more and more adventurous I mean we've already lost 7 of our brothers already" she stopped, frowning in thought "I've got a bad feeling about tomorrow" she finished. Dagonet carefully began to pack his supplies in his healing satchel while Kay nodded

"This is going to be the first real mission Arthur is going to lead us on without any Romans there, we're all going to need to give him some leeway and as long as we have you scouting we'll be fine" She let out a snort

"Let's just hope you're right" she jumped up on one of the examining tables and let her legs begin to swing "I wish Julian was coming with us" she said as an after thought

"Yeah we could use his sword" Dagonet answered "And I'm done now" he hefted his satchel over his shoulder "Now I'm just going to pray I don't have to use any of this" Fay and Kay nodded in understanding

"I just hope we don't lose anyone else, come on dinner's soon I should reckon and Vanora said that we're having beef stew with fresh bread sp come on before Gawain, Lamorak and Lancelot eat it all" She jumped off the table and hopped to the door holding it open for the two older men. She continued down the hall before she stopped dead in her tracks

"What's wrong Fay?" She turned around

"They are not expecting Galahad, Bedivere and Dinadan to come with us tomorrow are they?"

And hey presto you got yourselves another chapter to read… please review and if you have any requests or ideas for future chapters don't hesitate to comment

Cheers

TDA


	20. What's going to happen now?

The looks she received said it all, her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes glanced to the floor before flicking back up to look the two older boys in the eyes again her breath sliding out harshly through her nose wheeling her anger in. She shook her head in an attempt to clear it.

"Who?" she queried finally

"Galahad is coming" Dagonet answered quietly "We really need the three of them to make up for those we have lost but Arthur made it clear the others are too young to go out and I agree" Fay nodded

"Really Gal is too" she answered "You remember what he was like when the Woads broke in here, he didn't even draw blood that day but still he had nightmares about it"

"Well hopefully we won't run into any trouble tomorrow" Kay said as the three continued their walk to the tavern

"Really Kay?" Faya stared harshly at the older boy "If you really believe that then you are as dumb as Lancelot" Kay's eyebrows rose as he stared at the young warrior, Fay had never spoken to any of the older knights like that before, even Dagonet looked surprised, looking at the teenager strangley

"I've had enough of losing brothers to the frivolous sport of the Woads" she finally burst out spinning to look the two older boys in the face "We've been here less than a 3rd of our time and have already lost 7 of our brothers! How many more till the Roman bastards are happy? Children Dag, Kay! Most of those who have fallen were children, not even reached manhood" she stopped her arms lowering to her sides again from where she had raised them during her tirade. "I'm never going to make it back to Samartia, I can feel it" she whispered "This island is a death-trap" Dagonet quickly scooped her to his chest in a comforting hug

"Don't talk like this Faya, you must be strong for the others, for us" Fay sighed but nodded slowly before disentangling herself from Dagonets large arms, she lowered her head and sniffed once before a determined aura took over her whole form coming to rest in her steely gaze.

"Dinner's going to be cold if we don't hurry" she finally said resuming their trek through the village. As soon as they entered the establishment, the smell of beef wafted from the kitchen and several stomachs joined the orchestra of noise that seemed to be always present within the tavern. Faya sat beside Kay who took his seat with Gawain on her other side, she settled in for the wait knowing the others would instantly grab for the food first and would then begin to squabble over the big pieces. Fay let a small smile settle over her features and let contentment flow through her knowing the inevitable order that would come before the night drew to a close.

True to her gut, Arthur appeared just before dinner came to a close and even joined in for the dessert or Vanora's famous apple pie, idle chatter between the close throng of knights continued jovially on as the day turned quickly to dusk and villagers turned to candlelight. Just before the first of the knights were leaving, Arthur stood up and called them back for a brief overview of what tomorrow should turn out like. The meeting ended fairly quickly as Arthur finally said

"Galahad, be up with the others tomorrow, Tristan is not accompanying us so Faya be ready in the morn and that is all" Arthur stood up and left with one parting glance to his knights. Galahad was as still as a log barely able to breath.

"Gawain" he finally uttered, eyes wide as he stared at his oldest cousin, Gawain just sat there before he pulled Gal into a hug looking around for any help on how to comfort the young Samartian. Fay gently laid a hand on Gals shoulder

"Gal" she said softly coaxing his head from Gawains shoulder "It's going to be alright Gal, you've got your brothers here to protect you" she squeezed his shoulder and quickly got up and left the tavern.

She settled into her room, her gear long since prepared and resigned to the wait as sleep would be non-existent this night, she collected a blank page and some charcoal and climbed out of her window and onto the roof. She sat back on the tiles and stared at the sky, stars twinkling brightly in the gloom of her world. She shook herself out of her pessimistic mood, she had seen enough to know tomorrow would be inevitable and no matter how much she hated it, they would be riding out, without Tristan no less. With that thought she quickly slipped back into her room drawing forgotten and out into the corridor. She quietly knocked on Tristan's door and let herself in, Tristan was sat up in his bed a scowl so ferocious on his face that it would have even made Lancelot cower in fear but not Fay, she knew the scout too well to be frightened.

"Tris, you feeling any better?" she asked as she got comfortable in a chair next to his bed. All she received in reply was a growl. Tristan had been injured in the last skirmish with the woads, while trying to protect a downed Percival he had left his left side completely vunerable and in the middle of a heated battle, Tristan learned the hard way that it was not a good idea, a stray arrow found the kinks in his armour and he had been confined to bed rest ever since, as the shaft had broken while he had continued fighting and had torn up his side considerably.

Fay smiled at the grumpy knight and finally got up and retrieved a piece of paper from Tristan's table and with a stylus drew a makeshift bulls-eye and stuck it to the door with one of her own daggers. She returned to Tristan's side and sorted her remaining daggers into pills. Tristan's glare finally gave way to a smile and the two had a friendly game of daggers. Fay keeping a close watch on Tristan to make sure he didn't hurt or strain himself. Dag would kill them both otherwise.


	21. North

The following morning came by without delay, her night in Tristan's room had calmed her considerably, whatever the day brought she would not let Arthur or the rest of her brothers down. She had prepared for this moment and if Tristan could do it so could she.

She made her way down to her rooms before dawn to change into her armour which now consisted of a brown leather jacket with wrought iron chain mail sown over it, she had found early on that she couldn't function properly in the armour that her brothers wore, her frame couldn't handle the weight and it made her slow whereas her speed was one of her assets and had kept her alive on many occasions and so leather trousers accompanied her armour with the same principle of chain mail sown to it, she threw a green jerkin on over her chain mail lying it at the front with multiple ties, and buckled her sword belt over it to stop the bottom from blowing in the wind, before buckling her modified gauntlets, she had asked the tanner and smith she commissioned to make them to cut them off at the wrist allowing her more flexibility, they too were made of leather and had links sown into them before pulling her new black knee high boots on and strapping her cloak on before re checking that her gear was in order. She left her room to head down to the stables just as the first rays of sunlight appeared, her feet marking a path through the new frost that had formed during the early hours. She passed through the village with no trouble as anybody with any sense was still tucked away in their nice warm beds beside their loved ones.

She quickly made her way to the stables and saw to Tirade as soon as she got there, she stroked his forelock softly whispering in his ear before leading him out of his pen and into the main stable. She tied him to one of the fences and quickly located her grooming supplies and saddle. She carefully brushed Tirade's coat making sure he was healthy before placing his saddle blanket on before fitting the saddle and fastening and tightening the girth. She looked up at a noise in the stable and found only Jols the stable hand fitting Tirade's bridle to the temperamental beast. She smiled at the young man which he returned before giving Tirade a pat on the flank and heading off to start on the other's horses. Fay quickly attached her bow quiver and bag to the saddle, before untying the reins and leading her beloved beast in slow smooth circles around the stable. She now quickly mounted and walked around the stable gently building up speed until he was cantering around as much as the space would allow them. She dismounted and tied him to the rail patting his side and rubbing his knees before helping Jols with the other horses.

Arthur was the first to appear not long after the sun had made its appearance over the nearest mountains, his armour dulled, perhaps on purpose but Fay didn't ask, he nodded to her as he walked to his beautiful pure white mare named Maria. Not long after Arthur's entrance the other's soon trickled in, coming in two's and three's. Fay wandered over to Kay and Dagonet as soon as they came in and stood silently listening to the still tired knights ready themselves for the journey.

Fay was suddenly struck with a question "Arthur, you never said, where are we actually going?"

"There's a villa in the Cerones territory owned by Acacius Latinius, we are to give him protection on his journey to the port in Silures"

Mutterings instantly sprang up

"But Arthur that means we have to journey through the highlands that is Pict territory and then we will be crossing into Woad territory. We'll need a garrison to complete this mission" Percival stated in dismay

"We are that garrison Percival" was all Arthur gave as a reply.

Fay looked to Dagonet and Kay an 'I told you so' expression clearly etched on her features "We are going to die" she hissed at them before Kay cuffed her over the back of the head

"No-one is going to die" he declared softly back "But if we do we are Samartians, we will go down fighting" Fay simply stared at him drawing strength from his words, she shook her head before looking forward again

"Right, Arthur I'm going to scout the road North and I shall meet you on the legion's road" she finally said, walking over to Tirade and mounting the strong horse. Arthur nodded at her and she wheeled around ready to depart when a hand grasped Tirades bridle, Dagonet gazed at her before pressing something into her palm

"Stay safe Faya" he whispered to her before letting her go and then she was off, Tirade cantering through the gates and away, she faintly heard the cheering of the crowd that had gathered to see the knights off. But she was quickly out of hearing distance

"Open the gates" was yelled somewhere in front of her, but she paid no mind to it, concentrating only on the opening gates drawing ever nearer and then she was out in the wild of the North. She let out a silent sigh when the anticipated arrow in the chest never appeared. She galloped down the road until she was around three miles north and slowed to a trot, she scanned the landscape, the rolling plains looking so much like home but still being nothing like home at the same time.

The Legions road stretched the length of the country, complete from end to end, a straight line on a map but also on the ground, there were barely any twists or turns in it and this presented the first problem, marshes and forests and hills, there were no shortage on these anywhere on this island and so it meant passing through a dozen before you ever reached your destination. These were also ample areas for sneak attacks, skirmishes or even full on battles if bad luck was on Faya's side.

Faya drew Tirade to a stop just before she entered the first of many forests on their journey to collect this Roman Lord. This forest was old, very old, the trees twisted and quite large if she said so herself, it was the perfect area for archers to hide and wait. But then again the canopies were full with rich green leaves and so light was a luxury once you were inside making it hard to aim. She turned slightly staring back down the road, before wheeling Tirade around and making her way back down towards the fort.

She finally saw the rest of the knights in the distance and slowed to a trot before coming to a standstill and waiting.

"No sign of anything up to the forest Arthur" the man nodded "You didn't venture into the forest on your own?" Faya shook her head

"I wouldn't dare not North of the wall at least not on my own free will" she answered her shoulders hunching slightly "Do you want me to go in?" she asked softly, dreading the answer

"No Faya, not on your own" she sighed in relief before falling backwards letting Arthur resume his conversation with Lancelot and Gareth. She fell in besides Kay and Dagonet smiling in greeting, before facing forward once more.

Hey everyone sorry it's been so long. Just started in Uni this year so everything's been a little hectic but Faya is still on her adventures so keep an eye out and I'll update as soon as I can. Hope you like this chapter.

TDA


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